“What matters most in life is what you do for others.“
Robert P. Potts | 1930-2022
Bob Potts, the founder of The Store Decor Company, grew up in Gatesville, Texas working in his father’s grocery store. After working his way through college, he graduated in August of 1950 with a degree in business administration from North Texas State University. Soon thereafter, he answered a newspaper ad for a position selling Fuller brushes to workers in downtown Dallas office buildings. Armed with excellent salesmanship skills, his signature affability and a focus on building relationships, he made an unheard of $500 a week.
In December of 1950 Bob enlisted in the U.S. Airforce to serve in the Korean War and was stationed in South Carolina. When the war ended in 1952, he returned to Dallas taking a job with McKesson & Robbins, a national wholesale pharmaceutical company whose customers were retail drug stores, and it was there that he learned and fell in love with the retail store fixtures business.
Always an innovator and with an eye for design and mind for business, Bob rented a Styrofoam cutter from a local florist to make big, dimensional, yet light-weight letters for the walls that spelled out the name of the departments that could be easily seen. His clients were happy with the visual appeal and the increase in sales.
In 1957, Bob left McKesson and started his own store fixture firm, Robert P. Potts and Associates, and began building a client list of retail customers with an eye toward adapting new technologies to create displays, signage and fixtures that would enhance the customer’s in-store experience and increase sales.
In 1971, Elliott’s Hardware in Dallas asked Bob to design the 15,000 square-foot expansion of their Dallas store. Bob had worked with Mr. Elliott since 1954 while at McKesson and like many of his customers, they had built a treasured friendship over the years and were keen to work together again. Bob’s innovative re-design of the layout of the store and the addition of dimensional and eye-catching signage and decor was a big success and was reported in numerous trade publications. Once the news got out, other Tru Value Hardware dealers came from all over the U.S. to see it and The Store Decor Company was born.
The Store Decor Company client list has grown exponentially over its 40+ year history to include national multi-location clients such as Foxworth-Galbraith Lumber, PetSmart, Banfield Veterinary, McDonald’s, Smoothie King, Academy Sports, Fiesta Food Stores, BizMart, Tom Thumb, OfficeMax, HEB Food Stores, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Furrs Cafeteria, Corner Bakery Cafe, Lone Star Park and many others.
For more information on how we can improve your retail space and increase sales, please reach out to us at info@thestoredecor.com